1. Immigration, Expansion, and Sectional Conflict 1840-1848
Chapter 13
Immigration, Expansion, and Sectional Conflict

2. Introduction (cont.)
In the 1840’s, many American believed it was the “manifest destiny” of the U.S.A. to possess North America from coast to coast
Acting on that belief, the administration of James K. Polk between 1845 and 1849:
Annexed Texas
Divided the Oregon Territory with GB
Fought the Mexican War
Resulting in the conquest of CA and NM

3. Introduction (cont.)
Also in the 1840’s and 1850’s a rising tide of new immigrants entered the country
Expansion and immigration were linked
The overwhelming Democratic Party leaders saw the acquisition of more land and a return to a republic of self-sufficient farmers
A way of relieving growing class, ethnic, and sectional conflicts
Adding OR would please the North
Adding TX would please the South

4. Introduction (cont.)
In fact, westward expansion had the opposite effect
It sharpened sectional strife
Split the Democratic Party
Set the nation on the path to the Civil War

5. Introduction (cont.)
1.) How did immigration in the 1840’s influence the balance of power between the Whig and Democratic Parties 2.) What economic and political forces fed westward expansion during the 1840’s 3.) How did westward expansion threaten war with Britain and Mexico 4.) How did the outcome of the Mexican-American War intensify intersectional conflict?

6. Introduction Newcomers and Natives Between 1840 and 1860
4.2 million immigrants entered the U.S.A.
2 biggest groups came from Ireland and the German states

7. Expectations and Realities (cont.)
By 1860
Irish and Germans accounted for about 50% of the populations in the following cities:
St. Louis
New York
Chicago
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Detroit
San Francisco

8. The Irish
Between 1815 and 1844 almost 1 million Irish entered the U.S.A.
Most were Catholic, poor, and seeking greater economic opportunity
From
Roughly 2 million arrived
Overwhelming Catholic
Fleeing from the potato famine in Ireland
They usually entered the urban work force at the bottom
Competed for jobs with equally poor blacks

9. The Irish (cont.)
The competition for jobs between the Irish and poor blacks led to animosity between the 2 groups
Made most Irish hostile to abolition and abolitionists
Those Irish who rose to the level of skilled and semi-skilled workers competed against native-born, white, Protestant mechanics
Caused another level of hostilities
Ethnic and religious

10. Anti-Catholicism, Nativism, and Labor Protest
Know-Nothing Party
A.k.a. American Party
Mostly white, Protestant, native-born workers
anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant
Ohio History link on Know Nothing Party
Played a significant political role in the 1850’s

11. Immigrant Politics
Almost all Irish and German immigrants became supporters of the Democratic Party
Antiprivilege party
More sympathetic to the common man than the Whigs
They also resented Whig connections with the temperance movement and nativism
The Irish suspected the northern Whigs of antislavery views
Irish feared economic competition from emancipated slaves
They wanted no part of abolitionism

14. The United States in 1840

15. The American Settlement of Texas to 1835
In the 1820’s the Mexican govt. gave generous land grants to Americans
encouraged their settlement in TX
a way to guard against Indian attacks
hasten the economic development of the province
Many Americans came
Mostly from southern states
In the 1830’s, Mexican govt. attempted to end American immigration and prohibit slavery in TX

16. The American Settlement of Texas to 1835 (cont.)
Its efforts antagonized the Americans but failed to stop the flood of immigrants
By 1836 the American population in TX was 30,000 free and 5,000 slaves

17. The American Settlement of Texas to 1835 (cont.)
Santa Anna
New president-dictator of Mexico
1834
Started to tighten his hold on TX
The Americans in the province rebelled

18. The Texas Revolution, 1836 Fall of 1835
Santa Anna led an army into TX to suppress the uprising
The Mexicans defeated the Americans at the Alamo and at Goliad

19. The Battle of the Alamo

20. The Texas Revolution, 1836 (cont.)
In April 1836
Sam Houston
Led the American route against the Mexicans at San Jacinto
Took Santa Anna prisoner
Forced him to sign a treaty granting TX independence
The Mexican govt. later refused to ratify the treaty
But TX remained independent

21. American Settlements in CA, NM, and OR (cont.)
In the 1830’s, American missionaries entered Oregon’s Willamette Valley to attempt to convert the Indians there
The missionaries’ glowing reports of the territory’s climate and resources aroused keen interest back in the U.S.A.

22. The Overland Trails
In the 1840’s, 14,000 Americans joined wagon trains on the overland trails (or the OR and CA trails)
Headed for OR or CA
Problems:
Faulty maps and guidebooks
Fears of Indian attacks

24. The Politics of Expansion, 1840-1846
Introduction
At the start of 1840’s, western expansion was not an important political issue
Only after politicians failed to deal effectively with troubling economic issues did some of these leaders seize on expansion as a primary goal

25. The Whig Ascendancy The Whig Party won the election of 1840
William Henry Harrison
The Party planned to enact Clay’s American system of a new national bank, protective tariffs, and federal aid for internal improvements

26. The Whig Ascendancy (cont.)
Harrison died after only 1 month in the White House
VP was John Tyler
Tyler was a states’ rights Virginian
Vetoed all the economic measures Congress passed
Created tension in the Whig party

27. Tyler and the Annexation of Texas
Tyler supported the U.S. annexation of Texas
Appointed John C. Calhoun as his secretary of state
Draw up a treaty with Mexico to annex TX

28. Tyler and the Annexation of Texas (cont.)
Calhoun wrote undiplomatically that one reason for annexation was to provide more territory for the expansion and protection of slavery
This added fuel to already existing northern suspicions that acquiring TX was part of a southern conspiracy to expand slavery
The Senate rejected Tyler and Calhoun’s annexation treaty

29. The Election of 1844 Whigs nominated Henry Clay
Democrats nominated James Polk
Major issue of annexation of TX

30. The Election of 1844 (cont.) Henry Clay waved on annexation James Polk
First opposed it as sectionally divisive
His shifts lost southern votes to Democrats and northern antislavery votes to the Liberty
James Polk
Expansionist
Called for admitting TX immediately
Many Irish and other recent immigrants voted for Polk
They disliked the Whigs’ association with nativism, temperance, and anti-Catholicism
Polk won in a close election

31. Manifest Destiny, 1845
Expansionism had become a popular cause by the 1840’s
Many expansionists said it was “manifest destiny” to the U.S.A. to spread its experiment in liberty and self-govt. from coast to coast
John L. O’Sullivan developed the phrase of “manifest destiny”
Expansionists eyed the excellent harbors of CA and OR
Natural outlets for American trade with Asia

32. Manifest Destiny, 1845 (cont.)
Expansionists argued that acquiring additional fertile soil would safeguard the U.S. future as a democratic republic of self-sufficient farmers
Combat the social stratification and class strife that accompanied industrialization and urbanization
These ideas, carried in the penny press, strongly appealed to struggling immigrants in the cities

33. Polk and Oregon Polk wanted OR during the 1844 campaign
Manifest Destiny placed OR in its sights
Neither GB or U.S.A. wanted a war over OR
They settled for a compromise treaty
Split OR at the 49th parallel
Senate ratified the treaty in 1846

34. The Mexican-American War and Its Aftermath, 1846-1848
The Origins of the Mexican-American War
In Feb. 1845, Congress passed a joint resolution to annex TX
Mexico never recognized the independence of TX
TX claimed that its southern boundary was the Rio Grande
Mexico contented that it was the Nueces River (100 miles to the northeast)
Polk’s support encouraged Texas to accept annexation on July 4, 1845

35. The Origins of the Mexican-American War (cont.)
Polk also wanted to gain CA and NM
He sent John Slidell to Mexico with an offer to buy them for $25 million
Mexico refused

36. The Origins of the Mexican-American War (cont.)
Polk ordered American troops into the disputed region south of the Nueces River
Led by Zachary Taylor
Polk hoped to provoke a war that would give the U.S. a chance to seize CA and NM

37. The Origins of the Mexican-American War (cont.)
When Mexican troops clashed with Taylor’s, Polk told Congress that Mexico had forced war with the U.S.

38. The Origins of the Mexican-American War (cont.)

39. The Mexican-American War
Feb. 1847
Taylor defeated a Mexican army at the Battle of Buena Vista
Colonel Stephen Kearny
took NM
Commodores John D. Sloat and David Stockon and army officers Kearny and John C. Fremont
Took CA
combined naval and land assaults

40. The Mexican-American War (cont.)
General Winfield Scott
Captured Mexico City
Mexico surrendered Sept. 1847
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Mexico accepted the Rio Grande boundary
Mexico Ceded to U.S.A. almost all of the present-day U.S. southwest region
U.S.A. paid $15 million
U.S.A. promised to pay claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico

42. The War’s Effects on Sectional Conflict
Patriotism was generated by the war
Sectional conflict grew though between 1846 and 1848
The Polk administration angered the North and West by lowering tariffs and vetoing federal aid for internal improvements

43. The War’s Effects on Sectional Conflict (cont.)
Most important, arguments began over the expansion of slavery in the Mexican cession
Northern Democrats worried that the western expansion of slavery would close out opportunities for free laborers in the West and worsen class antagonism in the East

44. The Wilmot Proviso 1846 David Wilmot
Northern Democratic
Tacked on an appropriations bill an amendment that would bar slavery from the new territory acquired from Mexico
Passed the House but not the Senate
Extremist southerners led by Calhoun claimed it was unconstitutional for Congress to forbid slavery in any territory

45. The Election of 1848 Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor
Democrats nominated Lewis Cass
Tried to solve the sectional controversy by proposing popular sovereignty which would give settlers who lived in a territory the right to decide whether to permit slavery

46. The Election of 1848 (cont.) Free-Soil Party
A faction of Democrats called Barnburners joined antislavery “conscience” Whigs and Liberty Party abolitionists
Nominated Martin Van Buren
Opposed to any further spread of slavery

47. The Election of 1848 (cont.) Taylor won the election
A military hero
position on slavery was unknown
The good showing of the Free-Soilers in the North demonstrated the popular appeal of keeping slavery out of the West and using it as a place of opportunity for poor white men

48. The California Gold Rush
Just before the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, an American carpenter living in CA discovered gold near Sacramento
The news quickly reached the east
Produced a rush of prospectors
CA’s population surged
The weak military govt. proved unequal to containing the violence and disorder of the gold fields and mining boomtowns
Californians demanded a civilian state govt.
This brought to a head the issue of slavery in CA and the rest of the Mexican cession

49. Panning Gold, California

50. Conclusion
Polk during his one term, nearly led the U.S.A. into a war against Britain and did fight Mexico.
The issue of the spread of slavery into the territories taken from Mexico fanned sectional strife and split the Democrats
Many northern Democrats joined others in 1848 to create the Free-Soil Party

51. The Compromise of 1850 Introduction
When the treaty ending the Mexican War was signed in 1848, a delicate balance existed between free and slave states
15 of each
All the proposed solutions for handling slavery in the Mexican cession were controversial
Whether to prohibit it
Open the whole area to slaveholders
Extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific
Or apply popular sovereignty
Other issues also divided the North and South
CA and UT asked Congress for admission to the Union as free states

52. Compromise of 1850

53. IV. The Fugitive Slave Law was passed.
Compromise of 1850
I. California became a free state.
II. The rest of the Mexican Cession was divided into two parts; Utah (UT) and New Mexico (NM).
* people in UT and NM used popular sovereignty to decide on the slavery issue
III. The slave trade ended in Washington, D.C.
IV. The Fugitive Slave Law was passed.

54. The Fugitive Slave Law
• All Americans, by law, were required to help catch runaway slaves.
• You could be fined and/or imprisoned for helping a runaway slave.
• This law infuriated northerners!
Cazenovia, MA, Fugitive Slave Law Convention held on 21 and 22 August 1850; Frederick Douglass is seated at the right side of the table.

55. Kansas-Nebraska Act
I. The Nebraska Territory was divided into two parts: Nebraska (NE) and Kansas (KS).

56. Kansas-Nebraska Act
II. The people of each territory voted on whether or not to allow slavery. (popular sovereignty)

57. Kansas-Nebraska Act
* The Kansas-Nebraska Act violated the Missouri Compromise. Both territories were north of 36,30’N and should NOT have been allowed to have slaves!

58. “Bleeding Kansas”
Before the vote on slavery:
• Northerners crossed the border to keep KS a free state.
• Southerners crossed the border to make KS a slave state.
• Both sides claimed victory on the vote!